Working from home has always been something I tried to avoid as my previous forays into this isolating world have been met with varied success. Self-motivation, the feeling of loneliness, and the removal of that safety net if you are stuck have all been issues for me when I’ve tried working from home before.

The Coronavirus pandemic has made working from home an enforced reality for millions of people across the world, myself included. And we are lucky that we are in a position to be able to work from home. And our business strategy was well planned and executed. So I was determined this time to use this as a chance not to fall into the traps I had before.

As a social creature, I enjoy being around people and all that brings. In work, I like the collaborative feeling of finding a solution through trial, error and discussion. Outside of that, I like meeting people, talking and socialising. Enforced social isolation has made that part of life more difficult but not impossible. People are going to extraordinary lengths to make sure that they can connect to others and also that the masses can connect to them. Examples I have seen include sofa surfing quizzes, streamed exercise classes and school lessons being taught over conferencing tools.

From a business perspective, I am fortunate that I have a great team of people that I work with. We have daily calls with management and our teams to make sure that while we aren’t together, we can still have that collaborative spirit. Webcam calls have been a godsend and really help your mental health when sat alone in your house.

Family life, like countless others worldwide has taken a massive hit. As the father of two children under five, this can be taxing on both my relationship with my better half, but also with my energetic offspring. The most recent measures that limit outside activities to once a day mean that additional activities to stimulate, educate and simply tire them out are needed on a daily basis.

To sum up, I agree these measures are necessary, but from a business perspective it highlights the need for a robust, well planned and executable business continuity plan. I can say that though challenging and hard work, Orca have played a blinder in making sure that all our team is supported and has what they need to carry on the business for the weeks ahead.

We will hopefully all come through this stronger and will appreciate the important things in life. For more information on how Orca can help to support your business at this difficult time, please contact us.